Turlough wrote:That one about an iminent hard drive failure looks a bit strange to me. How would that be detected?

I don't know...

Hmmmm. T, you've got me thinking now.

You know when you get an error when you've got a non-responsive program such as Internet explor and the like, it was like that, it just flashed up on the screen, filling it entirely with blue background and white text, and then went off in an instant while restarting the laptop.

I honestly don't know what its about

Thanks though

Behind the innocent,
the last, the least and the lost
will be found in the storm

Killiney, the Enter key is either marked with the word 'Enter', or is that upside-down L-shaped key on your picture with the arrow formed by a short line going straight down, then at the bottom going off to the left, and ending in an arrowhead. On some computers, it'll have both. It's usually the equivalent to pressing a highlighted OK button, but in the command prompt you don't have an OK button; you have to use the keyboard for literally everything.

Do you have a more computer-literate friend who could visit you (or to whom you could give your laptop to to receive assistance for a few days) and follow these instructions? Having to describe the keys on the keyboard is extremely basic stuff, and the malicious software you have on board is requiring some very complex fix procedures to be followed.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not in the least unwilling to help, but my greatest fear is that you're going to inadvertently do something I don't ask for, with the result that your computer ends up even more damaged.

I think you've got what we call a 'rootkit' - that's something that works its way into the guts of your computer and then hides itself before doing anything else, to make its activities as undetectable as possible.

There's probably a tool to fix it, but given that you're having difficulty following the most basic of instructions (sorry, not trying to be rude), getting you to run some of them might be a very scary experience.

Let me know how you want to proceed......

If you don't know what eschatology is then don't worry; it's not the end of the world.Purveyor of fine sarcasm since 1966.

Angoid wrote:OK, let's regroup and see what is really going on here ......

Killiney, the Enter key is either marked with the word 'Enter', or is that upside-down L-shaped key on your picture with the arrow formed by a short line going straight down, then at the bottom going off to the left, and ending in an arrowhead. On some computers, it'll have both. It's usually the equivalent to pressing a highlighted OK button, but in the command prompt you don't have an OK button; you have to use the keyboard for literally everything.

Do you have a more computer-literate friend who could visit you (or to whom you could give your laptop to to receive assistance for a few days) and follow these instructions? Having to describe the keys on the keyboard is extremely basic stuff, and the malicious software you have on board is requiring some very complex fix procedures to be followed.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not in the least unwilling to help, but my greatest fear is that you're going to inadvertently do something I don't ask for, with the result that your computer ends up even more damaged.

I think you've got what we call a 'rootkit' - that's something that works its way into the guts of your computer and then hides itself before doing anything else, to make its activities as undetectable as possible.

There's probably a tool to fix it, but given that you're having difficulty following the most basic of instructions (sorry, not trying to be rude), getting you to run some of them might be a very scary experience.

Let me know how you want to proceed......

Angus, I'm afraid I don't have someone who is more technically minded, which is rather unfortunate, as one might expect, but given clear instruction, I should be fine, it just takes me a while to get things right, hold on... I do know of someone who is more computer friendly, but I don't know how much tho, I'll try to find out.

But that thing with the hard drive failure seems to have stopped, and I know this is common knowledge, but you need stuff to protect your computer, and I frequently nagged my dad to get me an antivirus software thingy from PC world and the like, but he said its all in the router, its not, you need it on the computer, I'm sure you know that...

But, the biggest problem I have is that I need the computer every day, I'm sure you don't believe that, but I have loads of assignments to do for college, and this is a Diploma course, so I need a load of stuff I've so far only been able to find online, and the facilities at college are rather crap to be perfectly honest, and the library shuts early, so I only get like an hour on monday and wednesday after I finish college, then on Friday, the library shuts before I finish, I'm only on a 3 day (full time) course, so its rather annoying, and they don't like you booking PCs for the entire day

But given clear instruction, I should be fine, but I do agree with you, I would probably do more damage tho

Behind the innocent,
the last, the least and the lost
will be found in the storm

Perhaps it's worthwhile then to find a forum where they can help you with computer issues. I know Angoid is our technical administrator and he loves computers and the like, but it's not really fair to ask him to put in all this time to solve your problems. He is (like everyone else) here because of Moya and her music, not to solve member's computer problems.

mise wrote:Perhaps it's worthwhile then to find a forum where they can help you with computer issues. I know Angoid is our technical administrator and he loves computers and the like, but it's not really fair to ask him to put in all this time to solve your problems. He is (like everyone else) here because of Moya and her music, not to solve member's computer problems.

So can anyone recommend a good forum to Killiney?

Sorry, I didn't realise that it'd be like this

Behind the innocent,
the last, the least and the lost
will be found in the storm

(((( Mise )))) considerate and caring as ever ----- Killiney, I've heard of another forum where Angus works, called Suggest A Fix. It might be the kind of forum Mise has in mind. Let's see if Angus agrees.

Turlough wrote:(((( Mise )))) considerate and caring as ever ----- Killiney, I've heard of another forum where Angus works, called Suggest A Fix. It might be the kind of forum Mise has in mind. Let's see if Angus agrees.

I shouldn't have troubled the forum

Behind the innocent,
the last, the least and the lost
will be found in the storm

That last one is the one that's been referenced ..... I think this is better progressed on a specialist forum now, Killiney. This isn't the sort of thing we're about here, so I think it's right that it's progressed elsewhere as there will be more than one head available.

Unfortunately, with the rise of this sort of thing, there WILL be a waiting time at most of the decent forums as there are more infected computers than helpers out there, and helpers are overstretched wherever you go. However, you will get 1st-class help.

Please don't take this personally - it's simply because it's not what this forum is about - it's about Moya Brennan and her music.

I'll lock this topic now to stop it continuing here.

If you don't know what eschatology is then don't worry; it's not the end of the world.Purveyor of fine sarcasm since 1966.